A Friend? As If
by Icicle04
Summary: "Go. Go beat the shit out of that Haizaki." Suzume's lips curved up into the biggest smile he's ever seen, half encouraging and half menacing. "Or I'll be beating the shit out of you later." Kise was motivated by her, and he wanted to return the favour by being there for her. But she has had her heart broken too often by so-called 'friends'. Will she ever trust someone again?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

"Excuse me, ah... Kikuchi-san!"

"What?" Suzume turned towards the voice. The bell had just rung and she had hastily dashed out of class, not wanting to stay a second longer than she has to. Besides, she had a drawing to finish.

She saw a guy, - specifically, the guy who sat next to her in class - the one with the banana-coloured hair. "Kikuchi-san, you left your book behind." He handed her her precious sketchbook, the one with all her good drawings in it.

"Oh. Thanks." Suzume was glad this guy noticed, or else she wouldn't be able to finish her sketch today. "You can call me Suzume, you know."

"Suzu-chan, do you recognise me?" What sort of question is that? She was getting impatient - after all, this is wasting her time.

"Hah? No. Why?"

"I'll give you a hint. I'm Kise."

"Look, dude. I have no idea who you are. Wait, are you famous or something? Either way I'm no good with celebrities so don't bother." Suzume sighed exasperatedly.

"Whaaaat? You don't know me? I am Kise Ryota, and I do modelling for magazines." His jaw dropped open, extremely shocked that a _girl _didn't know him.

"Oh, well that explains it - I don't read fashion magazines. Anyway, I'm grateful that you gave me my book, but I'm leaving now." And then she just hurried away. Kise stared after her with a mystified expression, which didn't last for long, since his horde of fangirls had caught up and were screaming at him. God, sometimes he just wished for a peaceful life...

"KISE-KUN WE LOVE YOU!"

"OMG MY RYO-CHAN!"

"HE'S _MY _RYOTA-KUN!"

He heaved a small sigh but turned back towards them, a winning smile on his face. "Girls I'd really love to talk but I have basketball practice, and girls aren't supposed to watch, sorry."

The fangirls swooned and Kise took the chance to dash off towards the second gym.

* * *

><p>Suzume managed to finish the drawing of the sunflowers and now started on something new. She didn't really know what she was doing, just drawing whatever while her mind wandered.<p>

She thought about her parents who lived in Kyoto and her good friend Shinju, who goes to Yosen High in Akita. Shinju is probably the only friend she has right now, despite having started her first year in Kaijo for quite a few weeks already. Yes, people call her antisocial, but she doesn't trust people easily. Not when so-called 'friends' had betrayed her so easily before...

Suzu's attention snapped back to her sketch, and realised that she had drawn a pair of eyes. Eyes that belonged to Shinju. A small smile made its way onto her face and she stared at the eyes for a few minutes. Shinju had mesmerising amber eyes with gold flecks and her teasing grin always made everyone happy. She might not admit it, but having a real friend was good. In fact, it was awesome.

"I'm back!" An excited voice announced, interrupting her train of thought. "Onee-chan, where are you?"

"Here." Suzu replied without much enthusiasm.

"Suzu-nee-chan, is there anything to eat? I'm huuuunnnngry." Her little sister bounded into her room.

"Sora, you go do your homework, and I'll make dinner, okay?" Suzu ruffled Sora's hair and stood up, yawning.

"Haaaahhh? Homework is booorrring." She pouted, stretching the syllables where possible.

Suzu gave her 'the look' and Sora sighed but obeyed, muttering a quick "Meanie." under her breath. She always acted so babyish even though she's in her last year of elementary school already.

A sigh escaped out of Suzume's mouth as she rolled up her sleeves and headed downstairs towards the kitchen. It's not that she didn't enjoy cooking - she did (well most times anyway) - but she was tired and lazy and on the menu today was a very complicated dish...

* * *

><p>"Sora..." Suzume tiredly made her way into her little sister's room. "Sora, wake up. It's time for breakfast."<p>

Then watching as Sora stumbled out of bed to brush her teeth, Suzu went back down to the dining room, gulping down the mini-sandwiches - even though they were born in Japan they often visited western countries when they were small and got used to the food there - and orange juice. Sora soon appeared and did the same.

They both went their separate ways after breakfast.

Suzume broke into a run. It was 7:54am already! She was going to be late.

* * *

><p>"Suzu-chan!" A familiar voice called to her as she dashed into the classroom and quickly sat down.<p>

"What?"

"Suzu-chan!" Now she ignored the weirdo and turned her attention to the whiteboard. There was nothing on there, since - luckily - the teacher wasn't here yet. "Suzu-chan, do you want to eat lunch together?"

"No." A quick and straightforward answer.

Kise was left speechless. _No _girl had ever refused him before. Ever. Was he losing his charm?! Kise quickly turned to the other girl next to him and grinned at her.

She fainted.

Okay, so he wasn't losing his charm. Then what? This girl didn't seem to care about him at all, and that was unheard of. A girl who didn't like the great Kise Ryota?

"Hey Suzu-chan..." He nudged her. "Can I be your friend?"

"No. Why?"

Kise pouted. "Because I want to be. Pleeeeeaaaaase..."

"No." She looked at his wide eyes. "I don't need friends."

He blinked and stopped trying to talk to her. Thoughts flew around in his head, more than ever before, and he decided to try again at lunch.

Which was precisely now.

Kise just realised that Suzume had stalked away as soon as the teacher had dismissed them. Ah, damn, now he'll have to look for her as well as try to avoid his - rather annoying - fangirls. The blondie rushed to pack up his stuff and set off in pursuit of this weird girl.

"Suzu-chan, where are you?" Kise yelled. Unfortunately, his dumbness made all the girls in the area running towards his voice.

"HERE YOU ARE!"

"KISE-SAN!"

"I FOUND YOU!"

"Why are you looking for Suzume? Come with us!" The girl who seemed like the leader of the pack offered, flicking her hair and giving a sly grin at him. He bit his lip but didn't say anything, and she took that as fresh encouragement, slithering forward and putting her hand on his chest.

Kise stepped back. "Uh, I think I'm going to go practice basketball for a while. See you, girls!" He didn't really want to play basketball, but he knew that girls who have no business with the basketball club are banned from that place.

Once out of their line of vision, he started searching for Suzume again. He went through the club rooms and gyms, and all the classrooms he knew.

Yet he still couldn't find her.

Now there was only one place left to go. Kise ran across the oval and towards the weeping willow there, and soon Suzume was in sight. She was sitting with her back to him at the base of the small hill, her light amber-brown hair resting messily beneath her shoulders.

"SUZU-CHAN I'VE FINALLY FOUND YOU!" He hollered, although she didn't seem to have heard. Kise stopped right next to her, panting. "Suzu-chan?"

"Woah, shoot!" Suzume cursed. "You scared me to _death_!"

Kise peered over her shoulders at a watercolour painting of the weeping willow on top of that hill. "Suzu-chan...You are _so _good at drawing." Then he thought for a while. "Suzu-cchi!"

"Hah?!" She frowned, still not over the fact that he managed to find her and interrupt her precious painting time.

"Suzu-cchi... Don't you have any friends? What you said in class...I'm sure it isn't true."

Suzume blinked. "It is. I don't need friends. All 'friends' do is pretend to be nice to you, then they all betray you in the end." Her voice was bitter, and she lowered her eyes back down to her painting.

That was the precise moment that Kise decided to befriend this girl and prove to her that not everyone is bad. She may seem antisocial and bitter, but he knew that maybe she wanted a real friend too. He just has to prove that he won't betray her and is a _true _friend.

"Well Suzume-cchi, I'll be your friend."

Suzu, without a thought, declined. To her, it was just like before, those people who pretended to be your friend. What she didn't know was that this insignificant little sentence was the start of something unexpected. She didn't know that, to Kise...

_**The game has started.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Hello readers, this is going to be a series, so watch out for the other stories too.<strong>

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything 'cept for my characters or the plot - applies for all chapters**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Ne, ne, Suzu-cchi!" Kise bounded over to her as soon as he saw her come in the classroom door. Suzume ignored him and walked over to her seat, plopping down with a sigh. "Have you done any more drawings? I wanna seeeeee!"

"Go away." She said in a flat voice, completely poker-faced as she took her books out and placed them neatly on the table.

Kise pouted. "But I _sit _here, Suzu-cchi~" Then, as quick as lightning, he grabbed Suzume's sketch book - which was also on her table along with the other stuff - and shot out of reach. She gave a low growl and stood up, her face a mixture of worry and anger.

"Give that back, dumbass."

"No~" The blonde happily flicked through her best and most secret drawings ever (not even her parents or her sister has seen them) and came to a stop when he saw the eyes. "W-who is that?"

Suzume took the chance to snatch her precious sketchpad out of Kise's hands. "No one you know." But he could see her hands shaking a little as she quickly slid the book of drawings back into her bag.

"S-Suzu-cchi?"

She was saved by the teacher coming in through the door. Suzume really didn't want to talk about Shinju with him - after what he said last week, she didn't want him to know any of her weaknesses. And Shinju was definitely a weakness. She wasn't sure if it was because she didn't have any other friends, but she really cared for Shinju.

"Miss Kikuchi? If you would care to solve the equation?" Suzume snapped back to attention, looking at the question on the board, and after a while of thinking, replied,

"Q equals ten and P equals eight."

He glared at her and turned away. This has happened many times, especially with this particular teacher. Whenever she zones out they always pick on her, but gets nothing but a correct answer back every time. They obviously didn't know that she actually studies _very _hard at home.

* * *

><p>Suzume drew peacefully on the rooftop of the 1st year building. She thought that Kise wouldn't be able to interrupt her here. Boy, was she wrong...<p>

"Suzu-cchi! I searched a _long _time for you, you know!"

She gritted her teeth and kept her head down, ignoring the blonde model. He peered at her newest picture, a simple sketch of the view from where she was sitting.

"Woah, _so _awesome..." The finishing touches were done and Kise grinned happily. "Draw me?"

Suzume grumbled something inaudible but then glared up at him when he didn't move. He brightened. "Yay~" And then he sat down, leaning on the railings in a casual 'model pose'. He watched as her hands moved rapidly, perfectly capturing the moment.

After only mere minutes, she stopped. "Done." Kise scrambled over to have a look.

"Suzu-cchi! Even the look in my eyes is like, real! It looks like a...a _photo _of me!"

"Yeah, well, it's supposed to, Banana-Head."

"If you sold it to my fangirls the would pay hundreds for it!"

"No way do I ever sell or give away my drawings... Except for my friends." The last part was so soft he barely heard it.

Kise's eyes widened. "Y-your friends?"

Suzume turned away. "Let's go back to the classroom now." He watched, mystified, as she grabbed her book and pencils and left without another word.

So she_ does _have friends... But why wouldn't she talk about them? He sighed and hurried after her. _Too confusing, _he thought. He'll have to figure it all out later.

* * *

><p><strong>~Suzume's Point Of View~First Person~<strong>

Whenever I walked around the school I would receive glares and pointed looks from the girls. I never really knew why and didn't care either. If they all wanted to hate me for no specific reason, then I'll let it be. It would even help with me with my do-not-make-any-friends plan.

"Kikuchi, is it?" One of the bolder girls came forward. Some of her shirt buttons were unbuttoned so that way too much was showing and her makeup made her look like a clown.

"Yeah. What do you want?" I was too tired for this business.

She sneered. "Don't think you can say what you want just because my dear Ryo-kun has taken an interest in you. He'll dump you before long, you'll see."

"..." Who the hell is Ry- oh she means that Banana-Head... She's got it all wrong... "Ok."

She seemed surprised. "So stay away from my Ryo-kun, or else there'll be consequences, okay?"

"I would appreciate it if you tell _him_ to stay away from _me_." And with that, I left the annoying fangirl staring after me and started walking home.

"Jesus." I mumbled to myself. "That girl was so...pushy. If she told me to stay away from...anyone that wasn't that Banana-Head, I wouldn't have listened."

I pushed open the door of my house, dumping my bag by the door. Today I stayed at school slightly later than I normally do because I got caught up in the school's art gallery. There was some really cool work that I felt inspired by so I wanted to start working on something right now.

"I'm home, Sora."

"Suzu-nee-chan! I've finished my homework!"

"That's great. I'll go make something for dinner and you...can go do whatever." I ruffled her hair lovingly. My sister was the one person I can really be myself around.

"Yup!" She gave me a salute and went to open the TV. Just when I finished dinner, she called to me again. "Suzu-nee-chan, your phone's ringing!"

I went over and picked the vibrating device up. "Hello?"

"Suzume." A familiar voice said on the other side of the line.

"F-Father?"

"Yes. I have called you today to tell you about a job I have decided for you."

"Yes?" My dad was always so distant, so stern.

"Well, I don't want you to laze around doing nothing all day, so I called a few acquaintances. A fashion magazine company would like to have you as a model."

"W-what?"

"Yes, a model. Now I'm sure it'll provide plenty of money, and I heard a famous model works there. Kise Ryota, was it? Anyway, work starts in two weeks' time, and I expect you to be there. Now I have a meeting, but I'll send the photo studio's address to you."

"Wait, I d-" And then he hung up on me. "Argh, I don't want to be a _model." _I growled, slamming my phone down onto the table angrily. "It's always 'oh I'm sure you'll get heaps of money from it' and never 'oh I'm sure it'll be fun'. It's always for the good of you, but you never care about what I think."

"Suzu-nee-chan, dad's forcing you to be a model...?" Sora looked up.

"Mm-hm."

"B-but...but that's awesome!" She squealed, eyes shining as she jumped up and down.

"No it's not. Go eat dinner now_."_ My voice trembled slightly. I have to work at the same place as _Kise Ryota? _And as a _model? _

"O-_kay, _Suzu-nee-chan." Sora did her famous pout again. "But it'll really be cool if you were a model."

And then my phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Suuuuuuzzuuuuuuummeeeeee!" My jaw dropped open as I heard yet another familiar voice that I hadn't heard in ages.

"Shinju..."

"Hah? Don't tell me you've forgotten about me, I mean like we've only separated for a few weeks!"

Hearing her voice brought so many memories flooding back, the good ones and the bad ones together.

**~Flashback~**

_Suzume grinned at her middle school friends, Sayuri and Amaya. _

_"Hey Suzu-chan, we have to go to ballet now, see you tomorrow!" Sayuri got up, stretching._

_"Sure! See ya!" She suddenly decided to play a prank on her friends. After they disappeared, she got up and followed them, close enough to hear but not close enough to be spotted._

_"Jeez, that Suzume is really a bother." She felt her eyes widen._

_"Yeah, I mean I'm only hanging out with her cos mum said that her dad is important for business."_

_"She is soooo annoying, she thinks she's our FRIEND, huh?" Suzume sat down hard on a bench nearby._

_"Sayu, Ama-chan?" She called loudly, breathing in._

_"Suzume?" Amaya turned around._

_"I-I heard what you said before. Is it...true?" Something like this has happened before in elementary school, and she'd felt so sad that she had cried for a week and not made any friends since. Finally, in middle school, she had gotten over it and made some friends, but...this is what she gets?_

_Sayuri sighed. "Eavesdropper." She made a disgusted face. "I've been standing you for so long."_

_"I know right, I can't pretend to be your friend anymore. Mum can't expect any more out of me." Amaya examined her nails._

_"But...but I'm your friend, right?" Suzume said softly._

_"No way. You were just a useful acquaintance. Let's go, Sayu." And then they snickered and turned away, leaving her on the verge of tears._

**~Flashback End~**

"No... I haven't forgotten you, Shinju. I remember when Sayuri and Amaya just left but you were there to comfort me..."

"Aw, how sweet. It sounds like you missed me a lot!"

"No way." But Suzume was grinning.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

As Suzume filled in the worksheet quickly, she saw Kise struggling with his own out of the corner of her eye. She had stayed up late last night reviewing this Chemistry stuff, so this was no problem.

The blonde nudged her. "Suzu-cchi, help me?" He whispered urgently.

She let out a huff of annoyance. "Go ask your fangirls or something."

"B-but..." Kise whimpered. "They are all really dumb..."

She snorted. "_Now _you're being mean to them? Pfft."

"Suzu-cchi..."

A sigh escaped out of her mouth. "Jeez... You have to fill in these - a metal mixed with a acid equals a salt and hydrogen..."

* * *

><p>"Hey! Come watch my basketball training in the third gym!" Kise said excitedly.<p>

"No." Suzume said plainly. She had known that he played basketball from the screams of the fangirls (and there were a _lot_).

"Haaaah?" He grabbed her arm and swung it back and forth. "Pleeeeeaaasse?"

"No."

He pouted and thought for a while. Then he grinned and started making his way towards the gym, dragging her by the arm.

"Oi! Let go of me, Banana-Head! Hey, I've got stuff to do!" She struggled, but he was a very strong guy, so it was useless.

Kise stopped for a second, never loosening his grip on her. "What stuff?"

"Homework!"

"Oh." He kept walking. "That doesn't matter."

"Argh..."

**~A While Later~**

"Kasamatsu-senpai! Can Suzu-cchi watch our practice today?" All Kasamatsu saw was Kise dragging in a poor girl by her arm, and he immediately ducked his head and turned away.

Moriyama had hearts in his eyes.

Hayakawa was randomly screaming, "I (will) ge(t) all (re)bounds!"

And the others stopped what they were doing and stared at the pair at the door.

"Can she?" He repeated excitedly. Said girl turned to look at Kasamatsu, scowling slightly.

He went red and stuttered, "W-well, girls aren't r-really sup-pposed to unless th-they have business with the club..."

"But I invited her!"

"Th-then I guess it's okay..."

"Yay!"

Suzume groaned. She never wanted to watch their practice in the first place; what's so exciting about watching a bunch of annoying, sweaty guys running around chasing a stupid ball? Plus, what's with their weird and super-shy captain?

As if reading her mind, Kise bent down to her and whispered, "Don't mind him, he's just scared of girls." She leaned away from him.

"I'M NOT SCARED OF GIRLS! SENPAIS ARE TO BE RESPECTED!" The captain yelled, sideways kicking him in the head.

"Nice kick." She commented.

"E-er..." He went into tomato mode again.

_Jesus, _Suzume thought, _is this going to happen every time I talk to him? What a cowardly guy._

"Suzu-cchi! This is Kasamatsu Yukio, our captain, Moriyama Yoshitaka, Hayakawa Mitsuhiro, Kobori Kouji, and Nakamura Shinya. We're the First String Boys' Basketball Team of Kaijo!"

"Okay." She said boredly and tried to edge her way to the exit of the gym.

Kise immediately came and blocked her way when he noticed what she was trying to do. "Nuh-uh, you stay right here and watch us practice."

She sighed and silently got out her phone, sending Sora a text to tell her she'll be late home today.

* * *

><p>There were books scattered messily on the benches and pens everywhere as Suzume finished her English homework and is working on the next chapter in the book, trying to get ahead again so she can keep up.<p>

"Crap...What does documentary mean again?" She absentmindedly ruffled her hair as she flicked through the English-Japanese dictionary. "Oh right..."

"Why aren't you watching us practice?" A sudden voice next to her ear made her jump.

"OI! Did you want to scare me to death?!" Suzume almost shouted, gaining the attention of the other basketball players who were also taking a rest.

"Noooooo, don't die, Suzu-cchi!"

"First you try to kill me, then you tell me not to die? What?" This guy was so confusing, she didn't understand what was going on in his head. But then again she wasn't exactly what you would call social, and didn't really know what goes on in anyone's her except for her own.

The girl lowered her head and started reading the English essay in the textbook again and Kise got back to practise.

After about 40 minutes she had managed to read through the whole three pages and understand most of it. Note: _most. _There were still some things that she didn't understand but she was way too tired. English was so hard to learn; the grammar was different, the spelling was hard, and there was way too many words.

Suzume stretched and looked up towards the basketball players, not having anything else to do. She saw Kasamatsu jumping up to shoot and Moriyama blocking, then he unexpectedly passed the ball back towards Kise, who dribbled up to the net and dunked forcefully, hanging onto the hoop for a little longer.

"..." The light hazel haired girl had to admit that they were good. Not that she knew anything about basketball, heck, she barely knew the rules.

"Eh?" Kise realised that she was finally watching them. "SUZU-CCHI!"

That earned him another kick to the head. "GET BACK TO PRACTISE YOU IDIOT!"

* * *

><p>It was a few days later (where Kise would continuously follow the girl around )in PE that the first 'accident' happened...<p>

**~Suzume's Point Of View~First Person~**

I was tired after doing so much running - what even was the point in it? I mean, yes I could run fast if there was a purpose for it, but when there was no reason to run I hate it.

The girls now had to run up and down the stairs twice more, and I was just relaxing at the top when I felt a hand on my small back and suddenly I was tumbling into open air. I skidded on the steps before finally landing on the second ledge.

"Ooowwww..." I muttered under my breath, sitting up to examine my arms and legs. There was just a few small scratches on my arms and legs, but the scrape on my right knee was really bad. Blood was oozing out fast and there was some dirt in the wound.

And the blonde model just happened to come by at that time.

"Suzu-cchi! What happened?!" He exclaimed, rushing down and taking a look at her knee. "Ouchie..."

"Well," said a voice which belonged to a girl at the top of the steps, "She wasn't watching and fell, bumping into me in the process."

I was pretty sure someone pushed me though, because I was just standing there taking a breath... It must've been her.

"You should say sorry, you know." She smirked. Said girl had cropped ash-blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. "By the way, my name's Hitomi." She aimed her last sentence at Kise, flipping her hair and smiling disgustingly.

He just stood there looking confused. Then he finally spoke again. "Let's go to the infirmary to get your knee bandaged, Suzu-cchi."

I wordlessly held up my hand and he pulled me up.

On the way to the health centre it was silent and I didn't bother saying anything, just watching the blood trickling down my leg. When we got there the nurse had to scrub the wound to clean it (that hurt a lot and I was internally screaming my head off), but otherwise it didn't really hurt. I didn't cry, unlike some other girls might, and it was all good except that I didn't know what I did to make that Hitomi girl so mad that she decided to push me down the stairs.

* * *

><p><strong>~A Day Later~In Chemistry~<strong>

**~Normal Point Of View~Third Person~**

Suzume striked a match, holding it above the Bunsen burner, while with the other hand turning on the gas tap. Her partner, Akira, just stood and watched. She turned away to grab something, unaware that Hitomi was making frantic gestures at Akira, and she slowly moved the blue flamed-equipment just next to Suzume.

When she turned back, the fire, a few hundred degrees Celsius hot, burnt a little bit of her left hand. There was a sharp intake of breath and the girl ran to the tap, running her hand under the cold water. Then she just sat down on the ground hard, biting her lip and trying hard not to cry.

Kise saw her and immediately rushed over. By now, tears were spilling out of her pretty aquamarine eyes and pouring down her cheeks.

"Suzu-cchi...your hand...are you okay...? No, dumb question..." His voice was gentler than usual.

"I'm fine." Suzume mumbled, the words a contrast to her expression. "I'm...fine."

Then she was sent to the nurse's office for the second time that week. Why does bad things keep happening? First she acquired a blonde stalker who doesn't seem to be able to leave her alone, then her dad told her that she would be working with that stalker, then she 'fell' down the stairs and now her hand is burnt and hurts like hell.

What is _wrong _with her life?

* * *

><p><strong>Please review for more updates! I don't mind some constructive criticism too. Btw underlined is English.<strong>

**The incident of the knee was very loosely based on a true thing that happened to me. Except of course no one pushed me, and I wasn't on the stairs.**


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